The Triland Group of Seven

A positive discussion about real estate topics with only Royal LePage Triland reps invited.
Sound like a good idea?
Sure it is, so we did it.
Organized by Melanie Pearce (Twitter: Real8rmel) of the London office, on Thursday I drove down the 401 to join an oval-table (table was not round) conversation with six fellow Triland Realtors.
Call it a brain storming session or a think tank, it was not really networking (except for me) as the others attending were all London-based Realtors.
All agents have the same industry concerns and the same trepidations about new ideas. In fact, a forum like this becomes essential as a Realtor can admit they made a misstep in a marketing plan or an offer that went wrong. We all learn by sitting in a discussion group. Having people to bounce ideas off is the mark of a good thinker because you can quickly acknowledge that you don't know everything and that there are 7 sides to every story.
Our group decided that we should meet 10 or more times each year, and plan a loose agenda for each gathering.
This first meeting was a potpourri of topics. We formulated that while it's certainly good for colleagues to meet on a regular basis to discuss the industry, it goes beyond this and really proves there really is so many facets to the industry.
For example, I would never think of creating my own letterhead as I use the Triland parchment designed for Woodstock. However, as all marketing is about consistency, letterhead is part of that package -- just like a business card. I became convinced that ordering and distributing a box of note pads (With all my contact info on it, and of course a Royal LePage logo) -- better yet with a fridge magnet on the back -- is not olde fashioned, but still tried-and-true.
All advertising continues to be about creating top-of-mind awareness. When someone thinks fast food burger, I would guess that McDonald's still leads the way. When a consumer thinks real estate, I want them to think Royal LePage. When the name Royal LePage prominently jumps to the forefront, Mark Schadenberg is the name to know and trust.
Banter on July 14th surrounded many more topics: how often and how to contact your sphere of influence (friends, and past and hopeful future clients), popularity of open houses, timing of conditions in an offer, obtaining price reductions on listings, tracking activity (internet page views) on listings, alternate or outside web advertising (i.e Kijiji or virtual reality tour web sites), distribution of newsletters, and approaching 'private for sale' listings.
If you learn something, you've accomplished something. I learned a lot from this group and look forward to meeting again in August.